A driven, determined Comox Valley Kickers rugby team ran onto the field to face the league-leading Velox Valhallians on Sunday.

The final score of 32-25 in favour of the visitors may not be the outcome everyone hoped for, but it tells the story of a hard-won, evenly contested match. When asked, coach Aaron L'Arrivee simply replied: "Not much to say, the boys put in a good performance and should be proud."

Knowing full well that this was to be a hard match, referee Mike Magee laid down the law early in the game and managed to maintain excellent control throughout the  game. The Kickers opened the scoring with two outstanding tries that gave the spectators some of what they'd come to see.

The first came from inside centre Eli Cummins, who sidestepped three players to place the ball directly under the posts. Next up, wing Ross McClean ran a clean ball around the Velox defence for a try that spanned most of the field.

Velox answered swiftly with tries by Toby Burg and Garret Posein. After a period of almost 10 minutes staunchly defending their line, the Kickers conceded another three points in the form of a penalty kick to place Velox ahead at half time.

The second half started at fierce pace as both teams fought hard for the advantage. The Kickers got yet another try from outside centre Steve Hextall, only to see Velox get across for two more.

Neither a powerful try orchestrated and completed by Anthony Forth (which won him Man of the Match), nor a penalty kick from flyhalf Doug Wynd, nor a conversion by Brandon Huddleston could bring victory to the home team after Velox wing Jamie Dark placed a fifth try over the line. Velox flyhalf Mike Collins won Man of the Match for his intelligent direction on the opposition side.

"We gave away too many penalties in this game. Velox are an experienced, strong team and they will capitalize on any advantage they can get. This is something we will continue to work on even after the spring season has come to an end," said scrumhalf Greg Merchant.

SIDELINES The Kickers invite all men and women interested in playing rugby to attend training sessions on Tuesday and Thursday at 6.30 the club’s Fallen Alders facility on the Royston/Cumberland Road ... the club acknowledges sponsors Bayview Chiropractic, Butcher's Block, Central Rentals, Continual Palingenesis-Social Media Solutions, Investors Group, Mount Washington Alpine Resort, Wedler Engineering, Pilon Tools, and Yummies & Gyros ... visit the Kickers at ...